The Baby Contract (The Billionaire Bachelor Series) (18 page)

“You’ve surprised me at every turn.” Liam was hoarse, and something seemed to hover beneath the words, but she couldn’t translate what it was. His eyes found hers, holding her gaze. “You’re too much for me, Abigail Haden.”

When Liam rejoined her on the bed, she was wet, and when he slipped inside her, she found the most perfect pleasure imaginable. They moved into one another, finding the synchronicity that sent them both to paradise. Abby cried out with Liam. He collapsed next to her, then pulled her close, keeping a possessive arm over her.

Liam met her eyes. “What is it?” he asked.

He brushed the wetness on her cheeks away with the pad of his thumb. Abby felt like she’d cried more in the past couple of days than she had since losing her mother. She rose and collected her clothes, turning her back on Liam as she redressed.

“Abigail?”

“The contract is off.” She choked down a painful sob. “The baby will take your name, you can sign the birth certificate and declare it an heir, but I don’t want the money. Not a penny.” She made for the door.

“Wait.” Liam caught her arm but she shrugged free. Her penance was paid; this one last time with him had sealed the coffin. She was in love with Liam. Now the only thing left was the goodbye.

“I’ve estimated my due date is around the middle of June. I’ll contact you when I go into labor.”

“Abigail, will you listen?” He blocked the door. “Nothing will change at the Double H. All the money they pull in can now go back into the actual running of the place and not the mortgage.”

She lifted her chin and folded her arms, refusing to meet his gaze. “No, you stuck your nose in where it didn’t belong, and you did it without even asking me. You had no right to do what you did. No right at all to interfere. My father will be humiliated when I tell him, especially when I explain our…arrangement. Stay away from me, I want nothing else to do with you. The ranch will go to the baby as you said.”

She shoved by him and left.

Chapter 19

“This isn’t acceptable!”

Spencer cringed beneath Richard’s fury, but he held his ground.

“Let’s keep our heads,” he said, hoping to abate the man’s boiling anger. “It’s an unfortunate loss, but we can recover.”

“No, Spencer, we’ve invested too much already in this buyout.” Richard slammed his fist down on his desk top. “Whitmore has to be ours, there’s no backing out now. We stand to lose too much, and I won’t let go of that kind of money easily. With Whitmore out of the way there’s no stopping where KayBona can go.”

Spencer swallowed. “We’ll try something else—”

“There’s nothing else,” Richard butted in. “This calls for drastic action.”

“Like what?”

Richard’s vivid red complexion darkened to purple. “We have to get rid of this woman.”

Spencer blinked, sure he’d misheard. “What?”

“She has to go.” Richard shook his head like an angered bull. “She’s nothing, just another bitch who’ll vanish into thin air.”

Spencer stared, dumbstruck. “You…you can’t be serious.”

“I’m completely serious.” Richard slammed his hands down on his desk top again, making Spencer jump.

“I’ll have no part in this,” Spencer stated, ready to flee from Richard’s madness. No way would he get involved in harming someone. Or worse. He started to rise from his chair.

“I don’t think you have much choice in the matter,” Richard said, his voice threateningly low.

Spencer froze.

“If you turn your back on us now, we’ll let Liam know how much insider info you’ve been feeding us.”

Spencer dropped back into the chair, feeling as if he’d been punched in the gut. It took several tries to draw breath into his lungs. He’d never imagined Richard would stoop to something like this. The threat weighed heavily between them, and self-preservation mixed with his anxiety over what may happen to the nurse. He pinched the bridge of his nose, a pounding headache taking hold in his temples.

“What do you plan on doing then?” Spencer asked but feared the answer.

“I’ll take care of it,” Richard said. “And I’ve already made some calls in case something like this happened.”

He held up a gold necklace, which swung back and forth from his fingers like a pendulum. It looked familiar, but Spencer couldn’t place it.

“I’m going to put a few ideas into Liam’s head with this,” Richard continued. “Let him think this woman found a better deal. Someone who’d offer her enough cash to leave Austin and never look back. In the end, everyone has their price, everyone, and Liam knows that. He knows that for certain.”

Spencer swallowed, feeling a tinge of relief. “So we’re going to pay her off?”

Richard shook his head again. “No, I don’t trust she’d take a deal we gave her over whatever Liam might. What I have in mind is a permanent solution to our problem.”

Spencer felt the color drain from his face. “How do you think we’ll ever get by with something so drastic, Rick? Whatever you have in mind could easily lead authorities straight back to us.”

The man seated across from him snorted. “KayBona is huge. A giant in the United States, so why on earth would it involve itself in the disappearance of some lowly nurse? Think about it, Spencer. Money speaks, and a few dropped words to a congressman or two and we’re in the clear.”

Nothing was ever so simple, and Spencer shook his head.

Richard pushed on. “I have a man who’ll break into Miss Haden’s home, leave some drugs behind, and make it look like she isn’t pure of virtue if you catch my drift. We’ll lead investigators well away from us. No one will ever know a fuckin’ thing, unless of course
you
tell them.”

“No. God, no, I don’t need this on me. I’ve got too much shit to deal with on my own.”

“Good.” Richard leaned back in his chair. “Then it’s settled.”

* * * *

Liam paced his office. The contract’s obligations were fulfilled. He’d keep his company, and he had no other ties to Abigail. He needed to forget about her.

“Son of a bitch.” His olive branch had been thrown back in his face. He’d wanted to make amends with Abigail. Instead, he’d royally screwed it up worse than the first time. Instinct drove him to pursue her, press his side of things to make her see reason.

He wouldn’t do it though. The tight feeling in his chest told him he’d let his emotions cloud his reasoning abilities. He needed to let her go, for the both of them. A bitter taste settled on his tongue and he swallowed. There wasn’t space in his life for a woman and a child, he reminded himself. Abigail wouldn’t be a marriage of convenience, she’d require his attention. She’d want love and support, and so would the baby. How could he ever balance the two of them against Whitmore? It’d be an impossible task.

The sound of the floor buffer starting up reminded him of the late hour. Marty’s was an option, and he grasped onto the idea of a hard workout. He walked over to his desk and dug out his car keys before heading out Whitmore Tower.

Traffic was light as he drove the several blocks to the gym. Few occupied the dimly lit place as he set up with a punching bag. Liam threw his weight into the punches, focusing his attention on how each landed. A meditative action that soothed his raw emotions as sweat poured down his face. Soon his lungs burned, his muscles ached, and he stepped back from the bag, wiping his forearm over his face.

Yet even this didn’t send Abigail from his thoughts. Another man had set up with a punching bag, a few inches shorter than Liam, but had a good fifty pounds of solid muscle on him. A fair match.

“Hey,” Liam called out. “You want to go a few rounds?” He nodded toward the ring.

The man looked between Liam and the ring. “Sure.”

Liam dug a brand new mouthguard out of his bag, and his opponent pulled one from his own bag. The two grabbed some gloves hanging on a peg on the wall, along with a couple of padded helmets, and crawled through the ropes to the ring.

“I’m Don,” the man said, rolling his shoulders before sticking his mouthguard between his teeth.

“Liam,” Liam returned, mimicking Don’s motion with his own.

The two bumped gloves then separated. Don danced on his toes, and Liam waited. Adrenaline surged. He’d never faced off in the ring. Actually, he hadn’t been in a physical fight since scuffles with Spencer in childhood.

Don took the first swing. Liam dodged the blow, and swung an uppercut, catching his opponent beneath the jaw. Don
oomphed
and jumped back, shaking his head, before he smiled, flashing his red mouthguard. Feeling confident, Liam held his ground as Don approached and feigned a couple of punches. Liam timed a right hook, but Don seemed to have judged the attack, ducked, and his fist shot out, landing squarely in the side of Liam’s head.

Liam stumbled back, dazed, blinking away stars.

“You okay?” Don asked.

Liam nodded. Despite his mouthguard, he tasted blood. “Yeah.”

Don came at him again, but this time Liam wasn’t so foolhardy. Don was left-handed, and he favored that side. When his opponent made another calculated swing, Liam was ready. He blocked the blow with his right arm, punching with his left, catching Don in the gut. The man staggered back, holding his arm over his middle.

Don spit out his mouthguard. “Good one, but I think I’m done.”

Liam was disappointed. He wanted a few more minutes. His muscles ached, and his head throbbed where he’d been punched, but it wasn’t enough. Not yet. Abigail was still there, in his mind’s eye with her tortured look of betrayal. Don left the ring. Without any other choice, Liam grabbed his gym bag, left Marty’s, and drove across the city.

He pulled up outside of Abigail’s place and cut the engine. The lights were off, and her car wasn’t in the driveway. Liam drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, considering his next move. She’d made it clear she didn’t want anything to do with him, but he wasn’t programmed to give up on something he wanted. He needed to talk to her, but she wasn’t home. Should he wait?

A silver Subaru passed his SUV, momentarily blocking his view, and bringing him to his senses. Looming outside of her bungalow made him nothing less than a stalker. A war waged inside him. Respect her wants or try yet again? An ugly back and forth that left him grinding his teeth until he finally started his SUV and left her neighborhood.

Chapter 20

It was too familiar of a sight that never failed to break Abby’s heart. A small child clutched her mother who sat on an exam table. The side of the mother’s face had taken on an ugly purple hue, and her bottom lip was swollen, as was her eye. Abby removed the blood pressure cuff from her arm before she gave the woman an encouraging smile.

“I know this is probably the hardest decision of your life,” Abby said. “But this is the best thing for both you and your daughter.”

The woman, Cheryl, stared toward the floor. She’d been almost defeated, all her movements were slow, even her speech held little life.
Almost
, because huddled next to her was the last thing she must’ve valued above her own welfare.

“He said he’d hurt her,” Cheryl said, her voice barely audible. “I don’t care what happens to me, but I won’t let him hurt her. Not as long as I’m alive.”

The daughter, not more than six years old, took a tighter hold on both her mom and her dolly in a stained white dress. The only other thing they’d escaped with, save for the clothes on their backs. The cops had brought her to the safehouse. Now it was up to the staff to try to save them and convince Cheryl that returning to the abuse would be the worst possible decision. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes the women walked straight back into the pain because they knew nothing else.

When Lupita had first introduced Abby to the battered women’s shelter, it’d overwhelmed her. She’d locked herself in the shelter’s bathroom and collapsed onto the floor, sobbing. Her first patient had been a young woman her age, with a broken arm and several missing teeth thanks to a boyfriend. Too many memories had been stirred to life.

Now, Abby could distance herself from her own past and remain compassionate to the women and children who needed her.

“The two of you are safe here, and the cops have a good case against your husband.”

Cheryl only nodded. Abby left her alone after another couple of minutes, the counselor would be in to take over. A kind, elderly woman who reminded Abby of Caroline, she was the true miracle worker in the shelter. Abby visited a few more patients before her night was complete.

It was dark as she walked outside. Her car sat in a parking lot at the end of the block. She peered around, checking to make sure an angry boyfriend or husband hadn’t discovered the secret location of the shelter. It was a dangerous volunteer job, but one Abby knew she could never leave. Two volunteers joined her to escort her to her car. They always traveled in groups back and forth, just to be sure. The three chatted as they walked down the block. The night was muggy. A feeling of unease settled inside Abby, but she couldn’t pin down why as she looked around. A few people walked up and down the sidewalks, but none looked threatening.

“Have a good night, Abby,” one of the volunteers said. The parking lot with Abby’s car sat across the street.

“I’ll see you two later.” Abby smiled and waved at them then stepped into the road. The squeal of tires sounded before a gunning car engine brought Abby around. She saw silver barreling down on her. She froze in shock and was yanked back just as the car raced past. Abby fell backward, onto one of the volunteers.

“What the hell?” the other volunteer yelled. “God damn it, I couldn’t get the plate number. Are you okay, Abby?”

The two women started fussing over her. Abby hadn’t taken a hard fall, but she still covered her stomach with both hands, fearing that her baby had been hurt somehow.

“I’m okay, but I think I should get checked out. I’m pregnant.”

“Oh wow, Abby, I didn’t know. I’ll call the cops and get an ambulance here. Stay still.”

Within a minute the loud wail of sirens filled the air. Several police cars swarmed the street before the ambulance arrived. Abby felt a bit stupid being placed on a gurney and rushed to the hospital, but she had to be sure her baby was okay. The other two volunteers remained behind to give their statements.